The international team of researchers also compared hundreds of different beverages. They tested everything from Red Bull to crowberry liqueur. I could never imagine any beverage more antioxidant-packed than matcha, which is a drink made out of powdered green tea leaves (so you’re actually eating green tea). But as I showed in Better Than Green Tea?, matcha may have met its match.

Hibiscus tea, made from the dried petals of hibiscus flowers, topped the rankings. It’s known as flor de Jamaica in Mexico, sorrel in the Caribbean, and roselle in many parts of the world. It’s what gives the “zing” to red zinger tea.

My family’s recipe is to soak a handful of bulk dried organic hibiscus flowers overnight and then blend with a knuckle of fresh ginger, a teaspoon of amla, three tablespoons of erythritol, and a handful of fresh mint leaves to make the half-gallon we drink throughout the day. By blending in the mint, you’re adding dark green leafies to what may be the highest antioxidant beverage in the world, and it tastes like fruit punch! Your kids will love it.

You can overdo it though. The impressive manganese content of hibiscus tea may exceed recommended limits at high intakes, though, so we probably shouldn’t drink more than a quart a day (for someone that weighs about 150 pounds; a kid weighing 75 pounds wouldn’t want to regularly drink more than 2 cups a day).

Just because something has antioxidant power in the test tube, though, doesn’t mean it has antioxidant flower power in the body. Maybe the phytonutrients aren’t even absorbed. A human investigation of hibiscus tea has finally been published, though.

If you take people and have them drink only water for 10 hours the antioxidant level of their bloodstream drops throughout the day. The antioxidants we’ve accumulated eating healthy foods get slowly used up throughout the day fighting off all those free radicals unless we replenish our antioxidant stores. For a primer on the fluctuating levels of oxidant stress, see Antioxidant Level Dynamics.

It’s hard to get people to fast for 10 hours, though. So, in addition to water, researchers gave the study subjects something they knew wouldn’t mess up their antioxidant measurements: white bread and cheese. What if at the beginning of the experiment you instead gave people a single cup of hibiscus tea? As you can see in my 2-min Herbal Tea Update: Hibiscus, within an hour there’s a nice spike in the antioxidant level in the blood stream. The effect disappears, however, unless you sip hibiscus throughout the day (or eat something other than Wonderbread cheese sandwiches).

I should note that there are unique phytonutrients found in the tea plant missing from all herbal teas, so one would not expect Dietary Brain Wave Alteration from drinking hibiscus. And hibiscus tea is sour, so make sure not to brush your teeth immediately after consumption (see my video Plant-Based Diets: Dental Health).

Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM, is a physician, New York Times bestselling author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. Dr. Greger has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, testified before Congress, appeared on The Dr. Oz Show and The Colbert Report, and was invited as an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous "meat defamation" trial.

43 responses to “Hibiscus Tea: The Best Beverage?”

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Dr. Greger, I have tried drinking hibiscus tea (specifically, Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger) after watching your various videos about it, but eventually stopped because it seemed to be causing constipation! It happened too many times to be a coincidence. Does this happen to anyone else? Could it be caused by something else in Red Zinger? The other ingredients listed are: rosehips, peppermint, West Indian lemongrass, orange peel, natural flavors, lemon verbena, licorice and wild cherry bark. Thanks for any insight you can offer!

I’ve been drinking an organic Hibiscus drink with hibiscus, rose hips, lemon grass, and orange peel (sooooo good!) and have not had any negative effects at all. I’m sure if I didn’t already eat so healthy I would notice an improvement, but I just feel as good as always lol. I wonder if your issue could have something to do with the “natural flavors” which could include a number of things. I heard of licorice doing the opposite, if I’m remembering right.

I have been drinking hibiscus tea for a year and a half, I just discovered it in the bulk bin at a local market. I soak the dried flowers for an hour or longer in a mason jar, I don’t add anything and love the tart flavor. Sometimes I will make Yerba Mate tea and make a sport drink by mixing the two, YUM!

I started to drink it to help cool me down and refresh me on a hot day, intuitive guess, it works! In Mexico they say it is good for the blood, (pressure). I feel it has lots of Vitamin C.
Good to know about the antioxidants!
Luckily, last July mom & I were in Mexico and I bought the entire two bags the local tiny health food store had, so much fresher…

Michael: This is clearly a good way to boost the antioxidant in your blood but isn’t this hibiskus very low in PH? Im abit concerned about exposing my teeth to this constant exposure to low PH. Any ideas here?

oh whoops, that was an embarassing mistake! please disregard my previous reply about low pH not being a concern. acidity IS the concern (got my low/high pH switched) however, tea tends to cause cavities/erosion less than stronger acids like that found in citrus, but tends to stain teeth and cause esthetic issues. if you don’t want stained teeth, rinse with water after drinking tea.

I had been drinking rosehip-hibiscus tea for a few weeks instead of water. Now my front teeth became transparent. I am now back to just water and will never drink that much tea again. My teeth are irreversibly damaged.

We have been drinking hibiscus tea since
your video came out, Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger to be
specific. I have two concerns: 1) it’s not organic and 2) although
hibiscus is the first ingredient I wonder how much is actually in it.
We’ve found a 100% hibiscus tea at a Middle Eastern store (it’s from
Lebanon) but not organic. Since we drink so much of it I feel concerned
about these not being organic. I looked online and saw 1 lb organic
hibiscus at more than $20.

What is your recommendation
regarding the organic issue? And without necessarily promoting a
particular brand how can I get the biggest bang for my buck?

Dear Dr. Greger… Thanks for all our effort in health education for all of us. Unfortunately I was not able to find Hibiscus in the antioxidant references you cite; I was able to find a Tang,Jamaica beverage but was about 6 .. is that number the one you refer to? Thanks again… Hector

Dear Dr. Greger, you cold brew the tea over night in the fridge. This must be nice in summer time or in warm countries. In winter time in Germany it would be nice to have a warm drink. Would brewing the hibiscus tea with hot water destroy the anti-oxidant effect? Thank you for your wonderful website.

I read the following on another website and wonder if it’s factual or not.

“Hydroxycitric acid (HCA) can be found naturally in Hibiscus tea. This is the same acid that was manufactured chemically in labs to create Hydroxycut, but the natural source is safe, healthy and a million times more beneficial to the body.

Hibiscus tea affects how we absorb fats and carbohydrates because it contains phaseolamin, a powerful enzyme inhibitor that blocks amylase,
the enzyme responsible for breaking down fats and carbohydrates. Hibiscus tea acts in the same way as the drugstore-pill versions, but remains in its natural, unadulterated form and is much safer and more
beneficial for the body than laboratory-produced concoctions.”

Doc, you need to clarify something. From the pics you posted in your vid (e.g. of the red zinger box), and your stating that your family uses bulk dried “petals” to make tea, it appears that what you are referring to is the usually bright red or pink flower with the long stamen stereotypically worn behind the ear of island women. But then you also mention that hibiscus is commonly called sorrel in the Caribbean. I am Jamaican, and the hibiscus flower (which I described earlier) is different from sorrel which is a very deep red bud, slightly prickly in texture, that surrounds a seed. We use it to make a drink that is traditionally consumed most at Christmas. Recently we have also begun to use it for tea (powdered in tea bags). It appears hibiscus rosa sinensis is the pretty flower, and hibiscus sabdariffa is the scientific name of the very different “sorrel”. Please clarify which is being referred to.

It is a common error in the articles I read on the internet. The pictures are misleading. The Jamaican sorrel is the medicinal one not the one worn in the hair. They keep using these pictures and it’s not right. Someone will go out and see this flower and drink it when I don’t even know if it should be ingested. WRONG PICTURE.

This is a ‘labor of love’. A free service.
Why is it that people like you have the audacity to complain about him not answering individual questions here?
Especially considering he donates even more of his time to live Q&A on fb & youtube monthly?

To heck with the tea. I cooked 4.5 cups dried beans with 2 cups dried hibiscus flowers. After swelling the beans and leaching to prevent gas, I cooked them with sauce. The sauce in the blender was 2 cups hibiscus, 1 small can tomato paste, heaping tablespoon tumeric, heaping tablespoon red pepper. The beans are delightfully sour. I notice I am producing more saliva. Could be the magnesium.

Do not use the hibiscus flower. The correct one is hibiscus sabdariffa (not sure if that’s the correct spelling) otherwise known as jamaican sorrel..I would NOT drink the flower. The picture used is misleading.

Does anyone know how much hibiscus powder a handful of the flowers equals? I have the powder already and don’t want to OD on hibiscus (nor do I want to buy the flowers and try to gind them up or weigh them on my non-existent scale).

Our “Rosellica” product allows you to bypass the tea preparation stage and also helps to ensure a consistent dosage. We originally developed Rosellica and brought it to market in 2009, because the Jamaican side of the family brews hibiscus tea (which they call ‘sorrel’) to manage blood pressure, but it wasn’t as convenient for our lifestyle not being close to home all day. The product also contains some ingredients to help balance the diuretic effects. We have found that a two capsule per day regimen allow the blood pressure-lowering effect to last across the day. Available from rosellica.com directly or on Amazon.

Sounds tasty! I checked the section of Dr. Greger’s book called “Some risks to spicing up your life” and neither cloves or Ceylon cinnamon are listed as spices one needs to use with caution. That said it’s usually a good rule to consume any single food in moderation, so I suggest sticking to a couple cups of tea with the spices daily (that’s just my opinion though)

So I’ve recently started drinking hibiscus and am in love with the stuff. I also enjoy watching the water change color when you put the tea bags in the glass (yes… I am a child), I can’t help it, it “bleeds” into the water. I imagine kids would be entertained by it, I am, lol.

I have been drinking hibiscus tea for a couple of months, during the day. However, when I started drinking hibiscus tea at night,my sleepness had changed. Seems like the hibiscus tea keeps awake…any explanation for that?

That is such an interesting experience, to find the late night consumption of hibiscus tea to be stimulating. I am a volunteer moderator that helps Dr. G answer questions posted to Nutrition Facts. I am also a plant based dietitian nutritionist from Scottsdale, Arizona. I can think of no reason from the hibiscus tea that your sleeping patterns have changed; as an herbal tea, it is not caffeinated. If you were one of my clients presenting with this problem, I would want to know a lot more about what you eat and when you eat it – as well as if you have an ongoing stress management practice (like meditation, yoga, or mindfulness practice) in place to help you with stressors in life.

It can seem like “cause and effect” with things that happen when we try new foods or drinks. Often, I find that something like a newly presenting sleep problem is much more nuanced. My best advice is to keep drinking the hibiscus tea, start meditating daily, and see what changes.

I started drinking Hibiscus tea couple days ago. I’d cold steep it all night, and down it first thing in the morning.

I noticed that I immediately (as in within a couple minutes) felt very strange. I still had all my faculties, but something just felt a little…. off. Almost as if I was ever so slightly drunk.

After 3-4 days of this, I realized it wasn’t just in my head, so I consulted the almighty (Google). Turns out that an “intoxicating” effect, or even a “hallucination” effect, are common side effects of consuming Hibiscus Tea. At least for some people in certain amounts and/or concentrations.

So just be careful. If you plan to chug concentrated Hib Tea on an empty stomach, don’t plan to hop in your car and drive around shortly thereafter.

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